I have an old Bromar hatch (original 1979) in my main cabin that leaks when we get any significant rain. I'm positive because I find a puddle of water on our cabin table and it's the only thing above it and I've seen a drop of water hanging off the rim of the hatch.

I've inspected the hatch in dry weather only, but I can't see any breeches in the exterior seal or glazing. I'd like to find the location of the leak ... or should I just jam some silicone or butyl in all the joints for now? I'm sure we'll be replacing these hatches in the future, but I'd like to put that off if possible.

Faster

06-10-2013 03:43 PM

Re: Leaking Window-Hatch

Can you find replacement gaskets? The next step is to try to determine if it's leaking a) through the gasket seal, b) through the lens/frame interface, or c) under the flange/deck connection. This can be tough to ascertain, but redoing the gasketing is a good place to start. On a previous boat with aluminum Bomars we really had to cinch down the latches to minimize leakage.. the gaskets were getting old and compressed.

chucklesR

06-10-2013 04:02 PM

Re: Leaking Window-Hatch

Pulling a hatch is not that much work I have a friend that did his (3) in an afternoon at a raftup - and if you have any coring at all you are better off doing it sooner rather than later when it's the whole deck you'll be doing.

asdf38

06-10-2013 06:07 PM

Re: Leaking Window-Hatch

I actually just redid my main hatch. It took 2-3 hours to get it and the spacer off, cleaned and back on. I was leaking mainly between the teak spacer and the deck it appeared. I rebed everything with butyl.

Another helpful strategy is to get out to the boat in the rain. Like many people I tend to avoid going to the boat in the rain and haven't been distance cruising. So while the boat is still out of the water I made a point to go down in the pouring rain and shine a flashlight on everything from the inside. It was really helpful (I knew the hatch was leaking, but never would have guessed it was coming in between the teak and the deck).

Otherwise I'm definitely a big fan of the "stuff butyl in" it strategy. I was going around at the end of last season with butyl on a number of things and starting this season with a couple more. It holds up to weather no problem.

dvuyxx

06-11-2013 12:25 PM

Re: Leaking Window-Hatch

It's crazy. I live in Annapolis which is supposed to be this boating mecca. No one sells the right kind of marine grade butyl tape. I guess I'm going to have to buy it online.

Faster

06-11-2013 12:39 PM

Re: Leaking Window-Hatch

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvuyxx
(Post 1042657)

It's crazy. I live in Annapolis which is supposed to be this boating mecca. No one sells the right kind of marine grade butyl tape. I guess I'm going to have to buy it online.

Buy it from Mainesail/Compass marine... that's the good stuff.

johnnyquest37

06-11-2013 12:41 PM

Re: Leaking Window-Hatch

What's the difference between marine grade butyl and the stuff you can get at Home Depot for sealing windows, doors, etc.?

asdf38

06-11-2013 12:48 PM

Re: Leaking Window-Hatch

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnyquest37
(Post 1042667)

What's the difference between marine grade butyl and the stuff you can get at Home Depot for sealing windows, doors, etc.?

Butyl tape is basically a generic term, like Epoxy or Silicon sealant. There are millions of formulations of each (almost literally).

The stuff MaineSail sells is the ideal formulation (very flexible, very sticky) and shape (flat) for use bedding marine hardware.

I tried two other types before buying from Mainsail here on sailnet (see the butyl tape thread) and both were not quite right. Not nearly as sticky or flexible. For $30 bucks you can get the best stuff, I suggest doing it.

QuickMick

06-11-2013 01:09 PM

Re: Leaking Window-Hatch

If you use butyl (you can also get it at rv shops) I would put some on the outside of the hatch as well, as if you only block the inside water may still be getting inbetween and could get h20 in the deck. I used it as a temp fix until I replaced them and it worked pretty well.

dvuyxx

06-11-2013 02:29 PM

Re: Leaking Window-Hatch

I bought it from Maine Sail/Compass.

Yeah, I have some similar stuff that I've used for window work awhile ago ... but it does not look or behave like the one in MaineSail's butyl how-to (which is awesome by the way).

I'm going to butyl the outside at the deck surface and see if that is good temporary fix. The upper gasket seal looks tight to me, but you never know.